Date of download: 6/3/2016 Copyright © 2016 SPIE. All rights reserved. Photon recycling processes in a single junction solar cell on a substrate illustrated schematically. The spontaneous emission due to radiative recombination (dashed arrow) occurring at a position within the active region (full square) can either contribute to a photon recycling generation rate at another position marked by a dashed square (process A) or after total internal reflection from the top surface (process B). Another possibility includes a photon flux emitted within the critical angle θc escaping the cell through the front surface (process C). Finally, photons can be emitted downward and lost to the substrate through transmission (process D). In the case of substrate removal, a back mirror can be placed below the back surface field, thus allowing for reflection and reabsorption in the active region (process E), which leads to a further exploitation of the photon recycling effect. Figure Legend: From: Impact of photon recycling and luminescence coupling on III–V single and dual junction photovoltaic devices J. Photon. Energy. 2015;5(1): doi: /1.JPE

Date of download: 6/3/2016 Copyright © 2016 SPIE. All rights reserved. The normalized photon flux as a function of position due to emission at three different locations (noted in solid black, dashed red, and dotted blue; the location of emission for each curve is marked by the vertical discontinuity) in a GaAs single junction device at 870 nm for: (a) a cell on substrate and (b) a cell removed from the substrate with a silver backside mirror. Each curve outlines the net redistribution of photons throughout the device, including the transmission losses out of the active region. For a cell on substrate (a), the transmission losses to the substrate reach up to 30%, whereas a cell removed from the substrate has these transmission losses reduced to 2% or less, depending on the type of back mirror. Figure Legend: From: Impact of photon recycling and luminescence coupling on III–V single and dual junction photovoltaic devices J. Photon. Energy. 2015;5(1): doi: /1.JPE

Date of download: 6/3/2016 Copyright © 2016 SPIE. All rights reserved. Simulated open circuit voltage as a function of the: (a) electron Shockley–Read–Hall (SRH) lifetime in the base (for hole SRH lifetimes of 2 ns and 1 μs, respectively), and (b) as a function of the hole SRH lifetime in the emitter (for an electron SRH lifetime in the base of 3 μs), for various base thicknesses using a 99.99% reflective back mirror. Figure Legend: From: Impact of photon recycling and luminescence coupling on III–V single and dual junction photovoltaic devices J. Photon. Energy. 2015;5(1): doi: /1.JPE

Date of download: 6/3/2016 Copyright © 2016 SPIE. All rights reserved. Improvement in Voc of a 2-μm GaAs solar cell with an ideal 99.99% reflective back mirror due to the application of a front-side angular selective filter as a function of the electron SRH lifetime according to a realistic simulation considering surface recombination velocity (SRV=1000 cm/s) and parasitic absorption in the window layer. Furthermore, an ideal simulation is shown where these effects are ignored. Figure Legend: From: Impact of photon recycling and luminescence coupling on III–V single and dual junction photovoltaic devices J. Photon. Energy. 2015;5(1): doi: /1.JPE

Date of download: 6/3/2016 Copyright © 2016 SPIE. All rights reserved. (a) Schematic structure of the GaAs/GaAs dual junction device on a substrate. (b) Redistribution matrix calculation for four different emitting positions within the top cell of the GaAs/GaAs tandem cell, which outlines the transmission of the luminescence into the bottom cell. Figure Legend: From: Impact of photon recycling and luminescence coupling on III–V single and dual junction photovoltaic devices J. Photon. Energy. 2015;5(1): doi: /1.JPE

Date of download: 6/3/2016 Copyright © 2016 SPIE. All rights reserved. Experimental and simulated luminescence coupling as a function of concentration in a GaAs/GaAs dual junction solar cell for: (a) increasing electron SRH lifetimes in the base and (b) for increasing electron and hole SRH lifetimes in the base and emitter, respectively. Figure Legend: From: Impact of photon recycling and luminescence coupling on III–V single and dual junction photovoltaic devices J. Photon. Energy. 2015;5(1): doi: /1.JPE